Slide 1 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. What Is Culture? █ Culture: Totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior –Culture includes ideas, values, customs, and artifacts of groups of people Module 9

Slide 2 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cultural Universals █ Cultural Universal: certain common practices and beliefs that all societies have developed –Many are adaptations to meet essential human needs –Murdoch compiled list of cultural universals but they are expressed differently from culture to culture Module 9

Slide 3 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cultural Universals █ Examples: –Appearance (bodily adornment, hairstyles) –Activities (sports, dancing, games, joking) –Social institutions (family, law, religion) –Practices (cooking, folklore, gift giving)

Slide 4 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Elements of Culture █ Though cultures vary greatly, they have common elements –Symbols –Language –Values –Norms

Slide 5 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Symbols █ Humans sense the surrounding world and give it meaning █ Symbols –Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture █ Human capacity to create and manipulate symbols is almost limitless

Slide 6 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Gestures with Different Meanings in Other Societies “Hook ‘em Horns” or “Your spouse is unfaithful”

Slide 7 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Gestures with Different Meanings in Other Societies “He’s crazy” or “You have a telephone call”

Slide 8 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Gestures with Different Meanings in Other Societies “Okay” Or “I’ll kill you”

Slide 9 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Language █L█Language –A–A system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another –H–Heart of the symbolic system Rules for writing differ –K–Key to Cultural Transmission The process by which one generation passes culture to the next –L–Language is the key that unlocks centuries of accumulated wisdom

Slide 10 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Values and Beliefs █V█Values –C–Culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful and that serve as broad guidelines for social living █B█Beliefs –S–Specific statements that people hold to be true

Slide 11 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Norms █ Norms are established rules of behavior or standards of conduct. –Prescriptive norms state what behavior is appropriate or acceptable. –Proscriptive norms state what behavior is inappropriate or unacceptable.

Slide 12 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. –Formal norms: Generally written; specify strict punishments –Law: government social control –Informal norms: Generally understood but not precisely recorded Norms and Values █ Norms: Established standards of behavior maintained by a society Module 12

Slide 13 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Folkways █ Everyday customs that may be violated without serious consequences within a particular culture. █ In the United States, folkways include: –using deodorant –brushing our teeth –wearing appropriate clothing for a specific occasion █ These are sometime referred to as soft norms

Slide 14 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Mores █ Strongly held norms with moral and ethical connotations that may not be violated without serious consequences. –Taboos are mores so strong that violation is considered extremely offensive and even unmentionable. –The incest taboo, which prohibits sexual relations between certain kin, is an example of a nearly universal taboo.

Slide 15 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Laws █ Formal, standardized norms that have been enacted by legislatures and are enforced by formal sanctions. –Civil law deals with disputes among persons or groups. –Criminal law deals with public safety and well-being.

Slide 16 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Situational █ Norms that change according to the situation –As an example: Normative behavior at a sporting event would not be appropriate within the context of the normal classroom

Slide 17 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. –Behavior that appears to violate society’s norms may represent adherence to a particular group’s norms –Norms may be violated because they conflict with other norms –Acceptance of norms is subject to change Acceptance of Norms █ People do not follow norms in all situations Module 12

Slide 18 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sanctions █ Sanctions: Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning social norm –Positive sanctions: Pay raises, medals, and words of gratitude –Negative sanctions: Fines, threats, imprisonment, and stares of contempt Module 12

Slide 19 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. –How would you react if you were taken from your parents’ home by a government agent and moved to a different family with a different culture? –What might be the long-term consequences of American Indian children’s removal from their families, besides the destruction of their culture? Sociology in the Global Community █ Cultural Genocide Module 9

Slide 20 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Development of Culture around the World █ Innovation: process of introducing a new idea or object to a culture –Discovery: Making known or sharing existence of an aspect of reality –Invention: Existing cultural items combined into form that did not exist before Module 10

Slide 21 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology █ Diffusion: Process by which cultural item spreads from group to group –McDonaldization: Process through which principles of fast-food industry dominate certain sectors of society –Technology: Information about how to use material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and desires (Nolan and Lenski ) Module 10

Slide 22 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. █ Material culture: Physical or technological aspects of daily lives Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology –Food items –Houses –Factories –Raw materials –Customs –Beliefs –Philosophies –Governments –Patterns of communication █ Nonmaterial culture: Ways of using material objects as well as: Module 10

Slide 23 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology █ Culture lag: Period of maladjustment when nonmaterial culture struggles to adapt to new material conditions Module 10

Slide 24 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sociology in the Global Community █ Life in the Global Village –Which aspects of globalization do you find advantageous and which objectionable? –How would you feel if the customs and traditions you grew up with were replaced by the culture or values of another country? Module 10

Slide 25 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. High Culture █ Classical music, opera, ballet, live theater, and other activities patronized by members of the upper-middle and upper classes, with time, money, and knowledge assumed necessary for its appreciation.

Slide 26 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Popular Culture █ Activities, products, and services that are assumed to appeal primarily to the middle and working classes. █ These include rock concerts, spectator sports, movies, and television.

Slide 27 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cultural Variation █ Subculture: Segment of society that shares distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from larger society Module 11

Slide 28 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Old Order Amish Subculture █ Strong faith in God. █ Rejection of worldly concerns. █ Rely on horse and buggy for transportation.

Slide 29 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Amish Subculture

Slide 30 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cultural Variation –Beatniks of the 1950’s –Flower Children of the 1960’s –Drug Enthusiasts of the 1970’s █ Counterculture: Subculture that conspicuously and deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture

Slide 31 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Beatniks of the 1950’s

Slide 32 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Flower Children of the 1960’s

Slide 33 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Culture Shock, Ethnocentrism, and Cultural Relativism █ Culture shock refers to the anxiety people experience when they encounter cultures radically different from their own. █ Ethnocentrism is the assumption that one’s own culture is superior to others. █ Cultural relativism views and analyzes another culture in terms of that culture’s own values and standards.

Slide 34 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Language: Written and Spoken █ Language: Abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture –Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Language precedes thought Language is not a given Language is culturally determined Language may color how we see the world Module 12

Slide 35 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Values █ Cultural values: Collective conceptions of what is good, desirable, and proper – or bad, undesirable, and improper Influence people’s behavior Criteria for evaluating actions of others Values may change Module 12

Slide 36 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Bilingualism █ Looking at the Issue –Bilingualism: Use of two or more languages in a particular setting –Bilingual education may instruct children in their native language while gradually introducing the language of the host society Module 12

Slide 37 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Bilingualism █ Looking at the Issue –Bureau of the Census: about 19% of population spoke a language other than English as their primary language at home in 2008 –Bilingual programs vary widely so difficult to measure their success Module 12

Slide 38 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Bilingualism █ Applying Sociology –For long time, people in U. S. demanded conformity to a single language –Recent decades have seen challenges to pattern of forced obedience to the dominant ideology –Often ignore fact that Bilingual education programs may have beneficial results Module 12

Slide 39 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Bilingualism █ Initiating Policy –Bilingualism has policy implications in efforts to maintain language purity and programs to enhance bilingual education –Nations vary dramatically in tolerance Public concern over potential decline in use of English appears to be overblown Module 12